There is a guy called Pendleton. You won't have heard of him but he is well known in Britain, at least in medical circles. He was a family physician with a love of medical education and used to teach doctors to become better family doctors.
One of the things he developed was Pendleton's Rules. This was a process of feedback on a task between two or more people. It was designed to be safe, non-threatening and constructive.
It is still used today, and in fact, Pendleton is still alive and well - at least he was at the time this article was written. His rules can be transferred into virtually any situation where feedback is justified.
For example, when viewing images and giving your opinion. Or when discussing tasks and routines in photography.
It's a really simple set of rules which follows the following broad pattern:
- the person wishing feedback talks first and states what went well or was done well
- then the person giving feedback says what went well or was done well
- the receiver then states what went badly or was done badly
- lastly, the giver of feedback states what went badly or was done badly
It is a very powerful feedback method which gives the subject a number of positives. First, the subject is able to think about what they did well and actually praise themselves for it. This is important because we rarely say to others how good we are at something. The person giving feedback can then reinforce this good work ethic and add additional praise. Thirdly, the recipient is given a chance to think about the negative parts - something that can, in other situations, either be glossed over or received grudgingly. Discussing your own problems can be very positive when someone is there to share and support your discussions. Lastly, the giver of feedback can point out any other areas that were missed or which were too painful to vocalise.
It worked for Pendleton and it continues to work for intelligent doctors in Britain. It might also work for your photographic progress.
Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com
